Friday, January 20, 2017

Portugal December 2016

Nissan Leaf is the 2016 Best Seller

EV Sales continue on the rise in Portugal, with sales in 2016 up 50% YoY to 1.970 units, with the EV Share ending at a record 0.95%, an important step above the 0.73% of 2015, with the total fleet of plug-ins now surpassing the 4.200 units.

For 2017, some 3.000 registrations are expected by year end, with the EV Share finally crossing north of the 1% barrier.

After a five year drought, the Nissan Leaf, by far Portugal's most popular EV (Over 700 units fleet) was crowned again with the Best Seller title, with 328 units (New all time record), after winning the title in 2010 and 2011. To have a notion of the leap made since then, the total number of registrations made in 2011 was 212 units, which is less than last month (233) alone...

After a close race between them, the remaining podium positions went for the Mercedes C350e (289 units), the new runner-up, earning the first Silver Medal for the Mercedes model anywhere in the World, with the Bronze medalist being the Outlander PHEV, the 2015 Best Seller, with 285 units, that despite losing the leadership, it actually increased YoY sales by 24% (And representing 60% of all Outlander sales).

The BMW i3 benefited from a strong year end to post a record result, with 218 units, ending in #4, followed by the #5 V60 Plug-In, that after five years on the market, finally took off in Portugal, by registering 175 units, up four-fold, while representing 24% of all sales of the Volvo wagon. After years with this sales gem hidden somewhere, it seems the local Volvo importer finally discovered it...Well, better late than never, right?

The same can't be said about Renault, while the French brand is easily the Best Selling automotive brand in Portugal and having the European Best Selling EV in their lineup, one would think that the Renault Zoe would lead the EV movement here, right?

Wrong...In a case where 2+2=1, the Renault Zoe ended the year in Sixth, with 170 units, a personal best, but so far it has failed to reach a podium position since its introduction in 2013, a performance that pales when comparing with its European performance...Let's hope 2017 and the new ZE40 version spike sales up, but for that to happen we also need the local network of Renault dealerships to finally wake up to EV's and change the mindset of their sales force to actively sell their Zero-emission vehicles, instead of trying to detour potential customers to the Clio's they are running from.

Elsewhere, the #7 BMW 330e success (80 units and Rookie of the Year), underlines the growing importance of the company car segment (Mercedes C350e, Volvo V60...) in this market, thanks to the VAT benefits that companies enjoy. The Kia Soul EV finally took of in Portugal, hitting #11 and 31 units, this being another case of the local importer waking up late to EV's, let's hope sister brand Hyundai doesn't take also two years to realize the sales gem they have on the Hyundai Ioniq Electric...But by pricing the regular HEV Ioniq at Eur 33.056 (!), when in neighboring Spain the same model costs only Eur 19.600, it sure seems that way. Oh well, that will only make Portuguese buyers cross the border and buy in Spain...To the benefit of the Spanish Hyundai importer.

Finally, the Mercedes GLC350e landed with a bang in December, registering 10 units, so Mercedes might have here another podium contender for 2017.

In the manufacturers ranking, after a close race, BMW took the trophy for the first time, with 19% share, followed closely by Nissan (19%) and Mercedes (17%).

The BEV/PHEV breakdown shows plug-in hybrids winning the majority for the first time, with 53% share, 15% above the result of 2015 and a whole 44% above the share they had in 2013, when only 9% of the plug-in market was PHEV.

VAT benefits for companies, started in 2015, has helped to expand the plug-in market, let's just hope they do not fall in the Dutch and Belgian exaggerations, where some 80% of plug-ins are PHEV's and most of them are company cars where many end users just drive them as regular hybrids...

Plug-Ins Versus Regular Hybrids

Pl

Model

2016

1

Toyota Auris Hybrid

977

2

Toyota Yaris Hybrid

814

3

Mercedes C300h

410

4

Nissan Leaf

328

5

Mercedes C350e

289

If we combine regular hybrid 2016 sales with plug-ins, the usual two (Auris & Yaris) are in front, followed by the diesel HEV Mercedes C300h (A testimony for diesel still being popular here), with 410 units, while the all-electric Nissan Leaf ended the year not far behind (328) ,the PHEV version of the Merc C-Class, the C350e (289), and the Outlander PHEV (285) rounding up the top positions.In fact, we would have to go to the Eighth spot to find another HEV, with the Toyota C-HR registering 190 units in just two months (Will this be the 2017 HEV Best Seller?), thus becoming the Fourth Best Selling HEV in Portugal, proving also that only Toyota and Mercedes actively market Hybrids here.